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Marcus Lattimore
Protein is now at Starbucks, and it's
Tate Frazier
never tasted so good.
Joel Anderson
You can add protein cold foam to
Van Lathan
your favorite drink or try one of our new protein lattes or matcha. Try it today at Starbucks.
Tate Frazier
Welcome back to Ringer Tailgate, the Wednesday edition of the show. I'm your host, Tate Frazier, and we're going to talk about the madness. We also got a very special guest today. The legend from South Carolina, Marcus Lattimore is on the show. And, man, was that a great interview. Excited for everybody to listen to that. But first and foremost, let's say what's up to our guys in studio. Van Lathan. What's up, Van?
Van Lathan
You know how we do it, guys. Listen, guys, right there. I say, guys, you know, shout out. Oh, by the way, I want to say this, man. Shout out to the great Bomani Jones. Me and Bomani had a fantastic talk on his show. Check out the Right Time with Bomani Jones. We talked about a whole bunch of different things. We talked about Joel. It was fantastic. If you're a Joel fan and you want to know the inside scoop on Joel, check me out on Bomani show. We had a lot of fun.
Tate Frazier
Yeah, that's a great introduction there for our guy, Joel Anderson. The Joel army raising up right now. What's up, Joe? How you doing?
Joel Anderson
What's the bucky shirt in the bucky shirt? Yo, earlier today, I had to record the Texas edition of the press box pod, which is going to be coming out next Monday. So we did a lot of talking about Texas, James Talarico, George W. Bush, all that, man. So that's why I got my buc EE's on to represent Texas today. Yeah. And a lot of people sent me that. That Bomani clip, by the way. And I just. I don't. I couldn't watch it before the show got started because I don't want to get out of my. You know what?
Tate Frazier
We don't want to get you in a bad headspace. I think that's fair.
Joel Anderson
I mean, bro, you know what? This is kind of funny, man.
Tate Frazier
Where's your water bottle, by the way, dog?
Joel Anderson
So I actually, I did not mean to do this on purpose because.
Tate Frazier
What is that in your hand?
Joel Anderson
So.
Marcus Lattimore
You know what, man?
Joel Anderson
I. We just bought a few of these at the grocery store the other night. Just because I've been working late to write and I got my water right here.
Tate Frazier
Okay, good.
Joel Anderson
But because I got my Diet Coke right here, I reach for that and. And I. You know, there was a part of me that had thought about having a Gag and having a Mr. P here on my desk. But you know what happened? I couldn't find a Mr. Pibb, bro. I went to two convenience stores and could not find a Mr. Pib. I ran out of time. I mean, if I'd gone to the grocery store, I would have been able to find one.
Tate Frazier
But the hater inside of you, Joel wanted to drink a Dr. Pepper, I think you know what I mean? Like. But I'm proud of you that you tried to go find a Mr. Pibb. We should point out to the people, if you've been watching March Madness, you probably have seen the commercial. Van Lathan.
Van Lathan
Yeah.
Tate Frazier
Voice of Mr. Yeah.
Joel Anderson
Celebrity dog. I've been telling people, man. Yeah.
Van Lathan
Did you get to meet Scotty everybody at Coca Cola? I did get to meet Scotty. Me and Scotty did not do the commercial together. He did his part, and then I went and voiced mine at a separate time. But I visited set when Scottie Pippen was shooting his part of the commercial. Fantastic. Nice guy. Saw everyone shout out to everybody, shout out to omit everybody there at Coca Cola. It was a fantastic experience. It was a lot of fun. Interesting to see how it turned out. And it's fun. This is funny to me. So in advertising, which I haven't been around a lot of this, as far as things I've done in my career, I haven't been a part of a lot of advertising. But they do this commercial. Everybody's having fun. They know that the commercial is playing on something that everyone knows about. And then the commercial drops. And for some reason, exactly how they thought the commercial would land with people. That's exactly how it landed. Everybody. Oh, my God. Scotty doing this. Scotty doing that. Everybody was having fun laughing. Scotty was having fun with it. It was just like a lot of fun that. That we did.
Joel Anderson
Scottie Pippen seem like a fun guy. Yeah.
Van Lathan
Yeah.
Tate Frazier
I'm not gonna lie, Van. You kind of stole the show. Like, Scotty's kind of monotone, you know, and then you come in and you give a little bit of juice to the episode.
Joel Anderson
Yeah, man.
Tate Frazier
I thought that was nice.
Van Lathan
I. I think it's actually funny that Scotty can have fun with this.
Joel Anderson
Oh, yeah.
Van Lathan
Obvious. The funny thing more than this to me is just how good Scottie Pippen was. I mean, it's kind of like a thing. It's like Scottie Pippen was one of the very best basketball players of his generation. One of the best of all time.
Joel Anderson
Yeah.
Van Lathan
Like an incredibly versatile do it all Wing could do Everything on the basketball court. And now because of the Jordan LeBron debate and some other stuff, it's almost as if he gets a little boxed out now. Nobody thinks about the greatness of who he was.
Joel Anderson
Do you think? So it could be the Michael Jordan thing, or is it the Future and Larsa thing? Because I felt like that took a chunk out of him in a way that was just sort of uncomfortable.
Tate Frazier
Joel, why would you bring. Why would you bring that up?
Van Lathan
Gonna hear this and they gonna be like, van got a guy on the podcast talking about all kinds of crazy.
Joel Anderson
No, listen, hold on. Scotty Pippen. I went to the Scotty Pippen basketball camp in Arkansas. Arkansas? Yeah, at University on the University of Central Arkansas campus. I had the room with a brother from Lufkin, Texas, and my first time really being away from home like that, and so I was there. Scotty show.
Van Lathan
Imagine the tussling.
Tate Frazier
Yeah, you guys are tussling for sure.
Van Lathan
That was some good tussling.
Tate Frazier
What room number?
Van Lathan
I feel like. I feel like they made this movie in, like, 2005.
Joel Anderson
Did you see it?
Tate Frazier
Jake Gyllenhaal.
Van Lathan
See that one?
Joel Anderson
It. It doesn't have to be homoerotic like that. You know what I'm saying? It was. I will.
Van Lathan
That's the name of the movie. Two Brothers in Arkansas.
Joel Anderson
Stop it. It's just. I do remember that week. It was very interesting because there. I remember there was like, there were absolutely no girls around. Like, absolutely none. It was. I was like, God damn. It just. It didn't make it. You just kind of expect to show up someplace and there'll be girls somewhere. The whole basketball camp. But anyway, I mean, so, yeah, so I started.
Van Lathan
That was the week that the if video, you was like.
Joel Anderson
And so I remember we all sat around the TV and we were like, God damn.
Van Lathan
Doing what?
Joel Anderson
Janet Jackson sitting around watching, like, you know, normal teenagers, you know what I'm saying? Keith Pippen was there. Keith. I guess that's Scotty's nephew or something, you know what I'm saying? I bought. I. I balled with Keith Pippen. Keith Pippen, huh?
Van Lathan
Keith Pippen.
Joel Anderson
We were balling, man. I was. It was. I mean, the one thing the camp had going for it was hoop. Scotty didn't really hang out that much. He showed up on the first day, and he showed up on the last day, and that was all we saw of him. But you. I mean, that's.
Van Lathan
That's.
Tate Frazier
That's a lot. That's enough.
Van Lathan
I got.
Joel Anderson
I got a poster, and it was hanging in my room, up until recently, it autographed Scotty. Scotty Pippen poster from that camp. So I support Scottie Pippen, man, and trying to find a new life, you know what I'm saying? And do doing different. Anybody could lose their woman. There's no. You know, I don't mean to cap on him on that, and I'm not. Because anybody can lose their woman. Everybody knows that. So it's. Yeah, whatever.
Tate Frazier
What's up, Billy?
Joel Anderson
Yeah. Wait, why are you here? Who called in Billy?
Tate Frazier
What do you mean by until recently?
Joel Anderson
Until recently?
Tate Frazier
What, like your wife made you take it down?
Joel Anderson
No, no, no, no, no. It was in my mama's house. It was in my mama's house in the closet there. And there's a few posters in there, including one of me is the COVID boy for the YMCA soccer. Soccer league in 19. Whatever.
Marcus Lattimore
I don't know.
Tate Frazier
No, you weren't, bro.
Joel Anderson
I can show you the poster.
Tate Frazier
Go get it.
Joel Anderson
Oh, well, I don't have it, dog, right now. The Westland YMCA on the south side, off of Findren. I was the poster boy for that. That YMCA soccer league, but go ahead.
Van Lathan
What? What?
Marcus Lattimore
Before I.
Van Lathan
Before I get to what I was about to say, because this has to do with athletics. I'm glad Billy's here. What position did you play in soccer?
Joel Anderson
I don't know, man.
Tate Frazier
You don't know?
Joel Anderson
I was like 8 or 9 years old, man. We were running around, bro. I was just, you know, the fastest kid I.
Van Lathan
Did you ever score?
Tate Frazier
You definitely were.
Joel Anderson
That's the thing. That's the thing. I scored two goals that whole season, so I wasn't as good. I. I don't know why I didn't get the kick as much as you would thought so.
Van Lathan
Maybe you weren't playing that position, though. Maybe you were like a defensive midfielder or something.
Tate Frazier
They were like this. They were like. This kid just keeps sprinting down the field, bro.
Joel Anderson
I was. I was out of control, dog. I was just running. I mean, for real. I don't remember. I don't even remember what practice was like. I don't remember what we did. I really don't, Joe.
Tate Frazier
I'm not sure you played soccer.
Joel Anderson
The only soccer practice I remember is when I got knocked out by a softball. That's literally the only.
Tate Frazier
That's softball, not soccer.
Joel Anderson
No, no, no. At the. At the ymca, it wasn't a very big field. So on my side. On our side, our soccer team was practicing, and on the other side, I guess there was some sort of softball or baseball game.
Tate Frazier
Going.
Joel Anderson
And it was getting late at night and I remember I was running in practice and then boom. All of a sudden I wake up and I'm going to ground. Everybody's staring around. It's because I got hit with a softball from the other game.
Tate Frazier
Kind of explains a lot.
Van Lathan
That's not. That didn't come from the game. Somebody 1000% did that on purpose, bro. They're like, yo, I'm sick of this little running here. Hey, so listen, we're doing Bomani's show. And when I'm doing Bomani's show, I say I give props to Joel.
Joel Anderson
Okay?
Marcus Lattimore
I did okay, man.
Van Lathan
I said Joel was actually dead nice when he was in high school as an athlete. As Joe's fastest 10 year old in the country, said Joe ran for 225 yards on six carries against Washington State.
Joel Anderson
Okay? It ain't gotta, you know.
Van Lathan
All right, so we had. I gave Joe props and then Bomani brought something up. Bomani said, right now if there was a race, Billy might have heard this. Because it feels like Billy heard this. Billy, you listen to this Because Billy and Bomani go back. Yeah, because of Dan LeBatard and all of that stuff. Bo knows that Billy is a really good athlete. And we never talk about the fact that Billy was a D1 athlete at the pole vault. We don't talk about that. Bo Mani goes, hey, if we had a race and the race was straight, he goes, van, Billy is fast. He said that Billy beat the fucking Freeze. From the. Dude, you know the Freeze? The Freeze.
Joel Anderson
The guy, he's wearing a suit.
Van Lathan
Baseball game. Yeah, Billy beat him in a race.
Joel Anderson
Wait, what is he wearing, like a mascot uniform or like what is his deal? The Freeze, Billy the Freeze.
Van Lathan
You've seen this.
Joel Anderson
The Free.
Van Lathan
Was that the Braves games?
Tate Frazier
What game is that?
Van Lathan
Braves game. So the Freeze gives people like a little head start, but then the Freeze just be coming back, come out of nowhere, grabbing people, right? And Billy beat the Freeze. And Bo told me, I didn't know that.
Joel Anderson
So. So wait, Billy, Billy, Billy, you, Billy, you had a head start on this guy and won. And that was the big. That was.
Tate Frazier
But, but the Freeze is a track star, Joel.
Joel Anderson
Okay?
Van Lathan
Yeah.
Joel Anderson
So, okay, hatred.
Van Lathan
Because
Tate Frazier
right now, I mean, early on on this list, we already have Mr. Pibb and favorite Dr. Pepper, Scotty Pippen, Larsa Pippen. And now the Free.
Joel Anderson
How could I have hated on Larsa Pippin? I didn't say anything about Larsa Pippin, bro.
Van Lathan
You. Bro, you dis. You did, by the way, add Me to that list because he dissed the commercial that I did.
Tate Frazier
So he also dis the convenience stores around him by not having this.
Van Lathan
Hey, by the way, stop trying to change the subject.
Joel Anderson
Convenience store.
Van Lathan
Bo's point was that what we should do is have a right time, slash ringer, tailgate, field day. I suggested a whole combine. I still want to do my regular guys combine. We have regular guys come out and run the 40 and do all of that stuff. Because every time I put on Twitter, what do y' all think y' all can run into? 40, come back and go, I think I can get a 4 6. You cannot run a 4 6.
Joel Anderson
You can't. 46 is really hard. That's because that's a fast time. That's a Billy.
Tate Frazier
Billy might.
Van Lathan
Billy might be able to do it. And Joel in a race. Billy versus Joel in a race.
Joel Anderson
Okay.
Van Lathan
Joel, do you commit?
Joel Anderson
Yeah, I'm with it, dog. I've never. I have never run from a race in my life. You know what I'm saying? Now hold up. But I do. I'm gonna need some time.
Tate Frazier
Okay. How many months? How many months, Joe?
Van Lathan
How many months?
Joel Anderson
How. Two to three. You know what I'm saying? Three summer, three months.
Van Lathan
No, no, no, no, no. That's from today. That's from today. We gonna do. We're gonna do this field day.
Tate Frazier
This is.
Van Lathan
You gonna come out to la. This like July. July. You good, Spider man. Brand new day comes out. Same month. Big month for me. Okay, and so, and then you and Billy, what is the. Let's put. Put out the rules. What's the length of the race? Is it a 40? Like, what's the length of the race? I don't think anyone, I don't think either one of you finishes 100 right now. A hand me goes.
Joel Anderson
Of course I could finish 100. But anyway, he could do it.
Tate Frazier
Nah, I can't finish 100. Get out of here.
Joel Anderson
I don't think 100 would say anything about us at this point.
Tate Frazier
What does that mean?
Joel Anderson
Because I think it would, sadly enough. It would become more of an endurance race than a speed race for us at this age. You know what I mean? Okay, I think a four.
Tate Frazier
I think a 40.
Joel Anderson
Yeah, 40, 60, whatever.
Tate Frazier
Joel wants a 60. Fine. I'm some catch up time. Yeah, exactly. It's all about who gets out of the game.
Joel Anderson
Oh, yeah.
Van Lathan
So, Billy. Okay, so Billy, when you were in high school, I know you did the field. Did you run any, any track races? Did you run any, any races? You didn't?
Joel Anderson
No.
Tate Frazier
I was. I was. Yeah, I pull vault because I didn't want to run. I just want to lay on the pads. And then I ended up being kind of good at it, so they. Okay. But I'm a bad starter, so the longer you make it, the better for me. 60.
Joel Anderson
I mean, I don't. I don't think. I don't think. I don't. I mean. I mean, I don't think you could catch me neither. I mean, no matter what. No matter what kind of start it is, I. I'm just. I mean.
Tate Frazier
Can Joe also wrestle people during this competition as well?
Joel Anderson
I'm not about to wrestle nobody. Joel, get the out of here. Why is it crazy?
Van Lathan
Did you.
Joel Anderson
I retweeted the story the other day, just last night, about how Zach Randolph and Reuben Patterson were fucking around wrestling and got hurt in the locker room is grown men. Why are you acting like y'. All. Y' all stop wrestling people? Like, at the age of 13, you never wrestled again. You never tussle.
Van Lathan
I. Joe, I swear my father's soul, bro.
Tate Frazier
I need that quote card. You never tussled.
Van Lathan
You never tussle. You never tussle post puberty. I didn't tussle, bruh. That was some. Hold on now, wait a minute now. Are we talking about, like. Hold on, wait. No, no, no.
Joel Anderson
It's anything from shadow boxing.
Van Lathan
Okay, now, so obviously we did all of that type of stuff, but, like, yeah, football practice in always. It's like they do that kind of, too.
Joel Anderson
You know what I'm saying? You never. Have you ever. Have you ever fought somebody or somebody tried to. With you? And they'd be doing. They'd be doing I. That for whatever reason, it just annoyed me. I got you doing that kind of. They're not hitting you, but they making that noise as they throw punches.
Van Lathan
So does that.
Tate Frazier
That was your tussling, is you guys were just not even hitting each other. You're just blowing.
Joel Anderson
Oh, no, we did real tussling. I mean, it was all the every, you know, figure four leg lock.
Van Lathan
I'm sorry to God. Come on, bro.
Joel Anderson
Come on, man. Do you want me to tell. I'm gonna tell a quick story. I'll tell you the days that I stopped hustling. I'll tell you the data. I stopped hustling. So I do. Friend of mine who was on the team at the time. His name is Dana Robinson. We called him Fat Count. It's from Referio, Texas. He's 5, 8, 100. Fat count. Yeah, a fat.
Van Lathan
Okay.
Joel Anderson
5, 8, 1, 8, 5. A little. Little. I mean, nobody at that age is chubby, but you get what I'm saying? It was just kind of like he was just kind of, you know, built like a fire hydrant or whatever. You know what I mean?
Tate Frazier
Yeah.
Joel Anderson
All right. Get it. So anyway, he come to my room one time and he say, plat. Plat was my nickname. Plat. Plat, yeah. And so the dude, he comes in and says, plat, man, what's.
Van Lathan
I don't know what.
Joel Anderson
He came, but. And somehow we started talking about wrestling. And I was like, oh, you know, whatever, whatever. He said, I get you up in this move right here. And so then he kind of grabbed me and snatched me up. And I could feel like something in my neck and back kind of like it didn't pop, but I was like, ah. And he let go. And that. I promise you, my neck and back have been hurt. Been up for the rest of my life.
Tate Frazier
Damn.
Joel Anderson
That's the only thing it could have. I mean, I'm sure football and everything else.
Tate Frazier
And that was your last tussle?
Joel Anderson
That was my last tussle. I was like, God damn. I was like, fat got my ass. He he my ass up, dog. So I wasn't prepared. We weren't really wrestling, though. That's the thing. He kind of took it. Took advantage of me or whatever.
Tate Frazier
227.
Joel Anderson
Cut that part out. Cut that part out.
Van Lathan
Hell, no.
Joel Anderson
I love you, man. He's still living down in Referio. His son played at TCU a few years ago, whose name was Flash. Flash. His nickname was Flash.
Van Lathan
What's his name? What's his name?
Joel Anderson
Flash. Oh, you said Freeze. That was. I'm. For some reason. Anyway, so.
Van Lathan
You know what's funny? It's funny that what we've learned out of all of this is there was a time in Joe's life where people will look at him and just be like, let's wrestle. That. That in and of itself is fascinating.
Joel Anderson
We were talking about wrestling somehow. Somehow, right. You know, man, you ain't. Y' all never just sat around like, hey, look. You know what I'm saying? Be real with you.
Van Lathan
To your point. To your point. I. When I first moved out to la, I moved in with these crazy white boys. Brett, Buch, Dan. All these were my friends. Like, they were from Dan.
Tate Frazier
No last name, just Dan.
Van Lathan
Dan, Brett, Bull, Shep, Tech, Ross. All of these guys hanging out with Chicago, Ross, all of these guys. All of these guys, Joe. All of these guys. I hung out with them. They're still Friends of mine, all of these guys, I hung out with them, and there was just. We would have these parties. We was. Everybody was still in college mode, you know, I was a little bit older than it, but everyone's still in college mode. We have parties at the apartment. Me, Brett, and Dan live together. We have parties at the apartment. And one day, Dan and Ross just started tussling, and they destroyed the entire apartment, bruh. I was. I was so pissed off, bro. Well, I'm like, why do I live with white boys? Like, they destroyed. They broke the couch, everything, but it was tussling. To your point. They were still tuss.
Joel Anderson
Zach Randolph and Reuben Patterson. Explain exactly what. How tussling might start when you get older. It's just like. It's you in a locker room in a. Like, man, I hem your ass up like this or some like that, and then all of a sudden, you tussling. It's not supposed to be a fight. Yeah, it's just like I. I exert some will, you know what I'm saying?
Tate Frazier
So you black out, and all of a sudden you're tussling.
Joel Anderson
Hold on. Nah, that's not. See, no, that's. Don't mix it up. That was a softball.
Van Lathan
Everybody looking up. Everybody.
Joel Anderson
Don't make it homoerotic.
Van Lathan
Everybody look in the.
Joel Anderson
Look.
Van Lathan
Look in the group. Look at what I'm putting in the group text right now.
Joel Anderson
Which text?
Marcus Lattimore
Make sure.
Tate Frazier
Yeah, send it to the Joel one. Yeah, yeah, don't send it to the
Joel Anderson
text, bros. You're okay, dog. Y' all really ignoring text even more now. Look.
Van Lathan
Look at this. Look what I'm putting out. We're not ignoring them. We got. We gotta do the situation right now. Look what I found, bro. Did y' all see that picture right there?
Joel Anderson
I ain't seeing right now.
Van Lathan
Yeah, put it in the group text.
Joel Anderson
This isn't. This isn't good. This isn't. This isn't gonna be fun podcasting to listen to right here.
Tate Frazier
What's fact. I don't see it.
Joel Anderson
Crazy. He's a man. Would grown, you know, I mean, he's got a child who's already graduated college.
Tate Frazier
Man, I feel like a fat count and plat rematch at this Olympics of ours might be. There we go.
Marcus Lattimore
One last match.
Joel Anderson
Retirement match. I'm not no more. I was done.
Tate Frazier
No, do you see this picture of Billy? Oh, God.
Joel Anderson
Okay, hold on. Let's see.
Van Lathan
Look, I found that on the Internet.
Joel Anderson
Okay.
Van Lathan
Pole vaulting.
Joel Anderson
Oh, damn. Billy.
Tate Frazier
Okay, honestly, I'm. I'm taking Billy in the Race.
Van Lathan
Billy, Billy, Billy, Billy. They got a fucking shit tonight of pictures of you pole vaulting. Damn. They got Guillermo Gil Bell. You went to Bellen Jesuit. They love you on a Dan lebatar. They got your whole life on this, bro.
Joel Anderson
Yeah, man.
Van Lathan
Bro, Bro. There's so many pictures of Billy as a pole vaulter. Really? There's. So, yeah, I'm looking at it right now. Competing track and field at nearby Bell and Jesuit. Runner up, personal best. He's. He's giving name Guillermo a journalism. Billy, you got a legacy online with
Joel Anderson
the whole in honor of our favorite Bellingrad. Where my fellow. John, I got a nice picture of you here, man.
Tate Frazier
Don't get nervous.
Joel Anderson
I'm not nervous at all. Well, I'm nothing, bro. I ran in Texas. I. I went. I went to track meets in Texas,
Tate Frazier
but there's three districts, but Billy was in Florida.
Joel Anderson
But we ran, but we ran, but
Van Lathan
we ran, but we ran. I'm about to say we ran.
Joel Anderson
Meet all around. All around. All around the region and all around the state. You know what I'm saying? I'm running Texas Relays, TSU relays. You know, I mean, I'm not. It ain't. It ain't nothing for me. It ain't nothing for me. You're not gonna find it. 19. I mean, 1995,
Tate Frazier
they wiped it.
Joel Anderson
Really came close, but anyway, it's on
Tate Frazier
a floppy disk somewhere, bro.
Marcus Lattimore
Oh, bro, Bro.
Joel Anderson
Okay, well, hold on, hold on. Since we showing pictures.
Marcus Lattimore
Hold on.
Joel Anderson
Oh, hold on.
Tate Frazier
Yeah, it's a picture of you in a soccer magazine or whatever.
Joel Anderson
No, no, no, no, no, no. Oh, no. I think I got a good picture.
Van Lathan
Hey, hold on, hold on. This is so funny, bro. Let me get this. Let me get this sentence out without laughing. When you search Joel Anderson, track, Texas, the first result is a tweet from Joel saying that he was the fastest in your own.
Joel Anderson
Hey, there's nothing else except in 1990,
Van Lathan
look, the first result.
Joel Anderson
I don't know.
Tate Frazier
It's a first person narrative.
Joel Anderson
Yeah.
Van Lathan
Hey, look, 20, 21, I asked Ben
Joel Anderson
Mathis, Lily, Matt, Matt Kebis, my boy Logan. Ask them Dan, whoever. Yeah, my boy Emerson.
Marcus Lattimore
You know?
Joel Anderson
Yeah, ask them who was there about my. About. About my, My track legacy. I had to show them because nobody believed it. And I had to bring that to work and prove to them that I was the fastest 10 year old in the country, man. But there's a picture of me from high school and. Oh, man, it's such a great picture. It's. It's in. It's in the Houston Chronicle of me finishing 100. Oh, man. Well, I'm not gonna find it now, bro. So, you know, you don't.
Tate Frazier
You don't need to constantly, like, validate yourself to people, though.
Joel Anderson
Well, I mean, I feel like y'. All.
Tate Frazier
Don't.
Joel Anderson
We believe y' all get geared up. I got some football pictures here. You know what I'm saying? I came from an era where people didn't take a lot of pictures, man. It was that. That take a picture.
Van Lathan
Not only did they not take a lot of pictures, it was. It's a whole arduous task to get the pictures that were taken from how they were taken to, like, the Internet. The pictures weren't digital, so you got to then put the kids in, take a picture of a picture, digitize picture, whole nine. I get it. It's just funny. It's funny that I'm looking at Bill, and it's like the Lebitar fans have, like, shrines to Billy and his athletic accomplishments, and you about to get smoked in this fucking race, okay? It's gonna be hilarious.
Tate Frazier
Should we get fandom to put odds on this?
Van Lathan
Look, bro, I want all the gators out there to put this. Put this on the blueprint. Who do y' all think is going with?
Joel Anderson
I haven't even talked. No.
Van Lathan
Or Billy, and this is all bucks. I would have never thought about this.
Joel Anderson
I have. I've never even talk. I'm just. I'm just confident in my life, bro. Look, let me. Let me. I. I can't find the one from. I'm sending y' all pictures. Oh, bro.
Van Lathan
It's video of Billy beating the Freeze.
Joel Anderson
Oh, really? Where is that at?
Van Lathan
It's video. It's on Tik Tok. Billy's athletic legacy continues. Is. Is. Is. Is. Is video of Billy beating the Freeze.
Joel Anderson
Billy, who was it that went up there and ran on. On. On south beach and lost to Chris Cody? Which. Which one of y' all was that in the race? Yeah. When didn't Chris Cody go out there and race somebody on south beach one time?
Tate Frazier
There was a bunch of races that day.
Joel Anderson
Okay, well, who did. Who did Chris Cody beat?
Tate Frazier
I was involved in one of those. Yeah.
Joel Anderson
Yeah, you. So you lost the race to Chris Cody, Correct?
Tate Frazier
Yeah, but they changed the.
Joel Anderson
Okay. All right. Yeah. Okay. Fanduel, make those eyes.
Van Lathan
But here's the. Here's the. Here's the issue, though. I don't know who's going to win the race, Right? I have no clue. But I do know it makes no sense to talk about it, because the reality is you will get your chance. I'm watching Billy right now beat the Freeze. Billy started off with a decent pace, like. No, I don't. I don't want to hear that now.
Joel Anderson
You know, Joe, where.
Tate Frazier
When was this picture taken that you sent us? This looks like.
Joel Anderson
I mean. Yeah, I can't find the one, and I thought that I could, man.
Tate Frazier
Well, you're not worried about, like, a hamstring situation.
Joel Anderson
I am.
Tate Frazier
Freeze is putting up the pictures in real time for everybody watching.
Joel Anderson
I am. I am afraid. Yeah. Because, yeah, it would be real easy for me to pop a hamstring doing this, but I. I've. I'm not afraid to race, like, again. Right now. I feel like I'm not in great shape. It wouldn't go very well. I'm certain that Billy would beat me, but I. Well, I shouldn't say that, actually.
Van Lathan
I still believe.
Joel Anderson
Hold on, hold on. I still believe in myself. Billy.
Van Lathan
Billy beat the Freeze. This was only a couple of years ago.
Joel Anderson
Okay. Chris Cody must be faster than a motherfucker. Than a dog freeze, too. Chris, car gonna smoke the freeze. God damn. Hold on, man. I can't find. I can't find a good picture.
Tate Frazier
Joey, you think you could take Van in a tussle?
Joel Anderson
Oh, I'm not. Look, man, y' all not about to try it on me, bro. I'm not. No. I'm not gonna. What are y' all gonna do against each other?
Van Lathan
This should be a Joel. I'll do any of it. I'll tell you what. I'm losing it. Everything, right? I took a long walk earlier today, and my Achilles hurt. So everybody. But I'll. But. But I'll do it all. I'll do it all. I'll tussle with Joel. All right. Also, if y' all want to buy all the different events, we could do all the events. We could have Bill come into this, and we could do. Bill be acting like he nice with. With a shot. Me, Bill and Tate could have. Could have a three point contest. Bring in Jacoby. Bring in. Who else be hooping?
Tate Frazier
Chris Ryan.
Joel Anderson
He shoots Chris Ryan.
Van Lathan
Like, bring. Like, we. We can have all the ring of people out there. None of this takes away.
Joel Anderson
Well, who does he hoop? I heard, like. I heard a lot about him hooping. His hoop game. Rosillo,
Tate Frazier
Joel Cathlon.
Van Lathan
Is that weird?
Tate Frazier
I know, I know. If you heard, you have to act
Joel Anderson
like he doesn't exist. That doesn't. It doesn't.
Van Lathan
I don't have to act like he doesn't exist.
Joel Anderson
Okay. I mean, I just. I didn't know that it was so.
Van Lathan
He plays a lot of basketball. He plays a lot of basketball. From my hand, he's a little. He's a good player. But look, I will say this. I'm looking at this right now. Now, last thing I'll ask about this. Billy, are you in the FIU Athletic hall of Fame?
Tate Frazier
No. I mean, they just. They just restarted it.
Joel Anderson
They've had like, oh, it's a matter of time. You about to get inducted?
Tate Frazier
No, I. I only did track their first for a year. They built a football stadium on top of the track, and then you'd have to travel and all this stuff. And I was like, I'm not going to be a professional pole vaulter. I think this is the sign that my time has come here.
Van Lathan
I wasn't that.
Tate Frazier
I wasn't that great.
Joel Anderson
Did you ever win a meet? Did you ever win a meet?
Tate Frazier
No, I wasn't that good for college pole vaulter.
Joel Anderson
You weren't in high school, though?
Tate Frazier
I was okay in high school.
Joel Anderson
Okay. All right.
Tate Frazier
I don't know what it was at the time. It goes up and down.
Joel Anderson
Yeah.
Tate Frazier
Why are we talking about what we did in high school? Well, in judgment, because this is for the tailgaters.
Joel Anderson
That's really the last in the comments. Tell us what you did in high school.
Tate Frazier
It ended for me after that. Also, also for the listeners, if you're out there. Gators, should Joel get AAA or not? He needs help with this decision.
Van Lathan
There you go.
Tate Frazier
I think we're all AAA defenders here.
Joel Anderson
Outside of Joel. Yeah, no, I'm fine with aaa. I just, again, I have very good insurance and roadside assistance with that insurance. And I'm like, I end up taking my car when I need it fixed at the AAA shop around. This is boring. You did not want me to.
Van Lathan
But before we get to Marcus, I do want to talk about something. Hold on. Before we get to Marcus Lattimore, I do want to talk about something that just broke not too long ago. Hubert Davis. Everyone's going to want to know your opinion on this.
Joel Anderson
Oh, yeah.
Van Lathan
Out as the UNC coach Tate.
Tate Frazier
Yeah, I mean, it was inevitable. He was told on Tuesday before the games that it was trending in that direction, so it was going to happen. And five years of Hubert Davis again had some great moments. We remember 2022, one seed in 2024. And, you know, Hubert Davis is a Carolina lifer. I think the exciting part is what's next? And it's going to be the first Time they go outside the family since they hired Frank McGuire back in the day. So I'm excited to see what they do. They went after Brad Stevens. Brad Stevens said no, and now they moved the search on to figure out who's next, you know, And I never thought Brad Stevens would ever work out, but I had some NBA people tell me that he might have some interest. They were wrong, and he has no interest. He's going to stay at the Boston Celtics. But, yeah, it's going to be a fascinating search. I'm excited to see where. Where we go next.
Joel Anderson
Could y' all get. Could y' all get Jay Wright off the couch?
Tate Frazier
No.
Joel Anderson
You don't think so?
Tate Frazier
I think Billy Donovan is the biggest fish that they could go after and get 60 years old, could come back from the Bulls. You know, we've seen. We've seen Hoiberg go back to college, maybe.
Joel Anderson
What do people think of him as a coach now? That's kind of.
Tate Frazier
He and Roy Williams don't have the best relationship, or they used to. Now, I don't know how it is today, but they fought over Mike Miller. Once upon a time. Mike Miller went to Florida. He was supposed to go to Kansas. So I don't think that Roy would be very happy. But again, it's a. It's a new era. It's a new day. And, you know, Hubert Davis, I. I wanted it to work. You know, I wanted him to be the guy, but he's not the guy. The Carolina guy that they would call would be Stackhouse. I'm a big Stackhouse defender. I love Jerry Stackhouse. I think he would crush it at Carolina.
Joel Anderson
Whoa, you want. Man after.
Tate Frazier
I don't want Stackhouse per se, but I'm saying if they kept it in the family, I'd be really happy with Stack House. I also have a lot more.
Van Lathan
Like, Stephen A. Smith says that Kenny Smith should be made the. The head coach.
Tate Frazier
I think that will probably go down as one of the worst takes of the day.
Joel Anderson
Wow. Wow. You all over him. Put that on Tate's dis list.
Tate Frazier
I mean, yeah, add that to my dis list. I don't know where that's coming from. I think Kenny got sick during the broadcast, and everyone's like, he's. He's interviewing for the Carolina job. Hubert hadn't even been fired at that point when he was supposedly interviewing. I don't know if it's just because he's friends with Kenny and obviously their coworkers now, but Kenny has never coached, nor do I think he Would want to coach. His son's coming to Carolina next year, Malloy, which maybe is some. One of the reasons why he was thrown out there. But yeah, it's going to be someone outside the family. Dusty May at Michigan, T.J. otzelberger at Iowa State, maybe Tommy Lloyd at Arizona, one of those guys.
Joel Anderson
You know, I would. Why would Dusty May leave that? He has, he has a great job. I mean, again, I, you know, I. Us.
Tate Frazier
But that's a football school and this is a basketball school.
Joel Anderson
You're a school. You're a school. Michigan is a school that can pay for whatever he needs. And that's all. That's all in North Carolina. Okay, well, I mean, we're gonna see. We're gonna see. But if I was. Dusty May, like, you already have one of the best jobs in the country. They love you there. You can win a national championship in Michigan. Yeah, they do. And like, is that, I mean, is Jesse made from North Carolina or something? Like, what's.
Tate Frazier
No, he's an Indiana guy.
Joel Anderson
See, I just, that doesn't, that, that doesn't make any sense. I wouldn't, I would not leave Michigan for North Carolina, even though I think North Carolina is probably a better job than Michigan. Just, I'd be like, no.
Van Lathan
Joe, can I ask you a question? Can you give me an example of a time that you thought a coach should leave a job for another job?
Joel Anderson
Okay, let me see. I thought Charlie Strong should leave Louisville for. Well, I wanted him to have the Florida job, but not the Texas job. But I was like, you can't not take the Texas job. Let's see, what else? Yeah, I mean, I, I think, I definitely think that there are people that have got to take better jobs. Like if Kenny Dillingham. I was really surprised that Kenny Dillingham didn't leave Arizona State this year because even though that's his alma mater, he's, he's the one who's saying they don't have everything that they need. And it just seems like he's a little restless. I'm like, well, you can leave, like, leave and go home and go take another job someplace else. Will. They'll appreciate you and you'll get your resources and do whatever. So I definitely think that. But I also think that sometimes you can try to be improving up or great and your whole life up. And I just. Dusty May has a job. He's a one seat this year. He's won at Michigan. Michigan. And has shown the ability, the willingness to play with the big boys and big girls. So I. I just wouldn't go someplace. I don't. I think the odds are that you're more likely than not to make those people at UNC unhappy. Like, they're. They're a very spoiled fan base in basketball.
Tate Frazier
I think there's a hundred coaches in college basketball right now that would be an upgrade as far as, like, in game decision making.
Joel Anderson
God damn. Like Morehead states got somebody.
Van Lathan
I'm be honest. Tamma, be real with you. I gotta keep it real, bro. That was racist.
Tate Frazier
No,
Van Lathan
gotta keep it real with you.
Tate Frazier
I mean, King. I think King Rice is about.
Joel Anderson
He said. He said he wanted Jerry Stackhouse to coach there. Okay?
Van Lathan
That was the essence, bro. So you were. But you were really over Hubert Davis. All jokes aside, guys, I'm joking. You were really over.
Joel Anderson
Don't forget Tate, by the way, who was on. You know what I'm saying? When you be running up behind Van, you'd be thinking about who supports you. I'm still looking for this picture.
Van Lathan
Really over Hubert Davis, though.
Tate Frazier
Yeah. I mean, the fan base. I mean, not even the fan base. I mean, internally, everybody. I mean, it'd be one thing if we got Hubert Davis from college game day, but we got a Huber Davis who basically lived like a hermit and wasn't around and was very, you know, antagonistic towards the media. And that just doesn't help sell the program. You got to sell the brand at some level. So, I mean, there was a lot of reasons that it all adds up, but in game, it's just so bad, you know? Like, I mean, I know the VCU game was the one that everyone points to, but there's been so many of those games where, you know, you play a better coach. Even Chris Beard last year out coached him. Nate Oates, before. I mean, you go down the list, there's been plenty. Jay Lucas, Miami this year. So many games where they have more talent, but they don't have a chance to win the game because of the coaching.
Joel Anderson
So. So if he had had Caleb Wilson and Caleb Wilson was healthy and they had played into the Elite Eight this year, because they would have had Caleb Wilson, Would you have wanted him fired?
Tate Frazier
Well, he was already. I mean, before. Before the season started, he was already on the hot seat. You know what I mean? They already told him, like, this is a make or break year.
Joel Anderson
Yeah, that would have been. That would have been a make year, though.
Tate Frazier
No, being a 4 seed is not a make year. That's what they would have been with Caleb. You know what I mean?
Joel Anderson
A four seed is Not a make. Okay. All right.
Tate Frazier
Being a one seed, a two seater, 3C.
Joel Anderson
Hey, North Carolina, man. Yeah. Look, bro, y'. All. Y' all like LSU and football, man. You know what I'm saying? The world.
Tate Frazier
Speaking of lsu, they got a new basketball coach coming there soon, Will Wade.
Van Lathan
Who's coming. Who's y' all hearing this at?
Tate Frazier
Oh, a lot of people.
Joel Anderson
A lot of people.
Tate Frazier
I. I've heard from some reliable sources that it's April 1st, is the day getting rid of. Getting rid of McMahon. And then will Wade, he's back in tow in Baton Rouge. He's the Lane Kiff basketball.
Van Lathan
I tell you what, getting Will Wade back at LSU after everything that happened is a minor miracle.
Joel Anderson
Yeah.
Tate Frazier
Like, I. I heard that leaving McNeese,
Van Lathan
going to LSU, people are saying that maybe Will Wade and his family might not be that interested in coming back to Baton Rouge. Right. That's what I. That's what I have been hearing. But like, Will Wade coming back after the firestorm that was caused around his exit and everything that went on was on hbo. Remember the whole documentary? You remember that whole deal, bro.
Joel Anderson
But that was a different Christian Dawkins was that.
Tate Frazier
Now it doesn't matter.
Van Lathan
Yeah, it doesn't matter. It doesn't. It doesn't matter anymore. It doesn't.
Joel Anderson
Wow.
Van Lathan
I would be into it. Good basketball coach.
Tate Frazier
If you had Lane Kiffin and Will Wade together after he left NC State after a year, and how Lane left, that would be. You guys would be the villains. I mean, that would just be great tv, great content.
Van Lathan
They got Kimoki over there as well. They got. The only good guy coach we got.
Joel Anderson
That's what I said, is Jay. Yeah.
Marcus Lattimore
Yeah.
Joel Anderson
Like y' all don't care.
Van Lathan
We got. We got Kimoki over there. Who cares, man? Let's shoot some hoops.
Joel Anderson
LSU is a school where you don't have to. As long as they love you, it don't matter. I feel like I would give LSU fans that much credit. They don't give a shit if you like that. Their style or their food, whatever. It's just like, as long as y' all around here love it, we're good with it. I would get. Man, LA is really on that. I really like. I appreciate that about Louisiana's.
Van Lathan
You know, you come down to where we at, you don't like etouffee. We don't think it's something wrong with us. We think something wrong with you.
Joel Anderson
That's right. Yeah, right.
Van Lathan
Like, we know it's good.
Marcus Lattimore
Yeah.
Van Lathan
Like, you don't like the way we don't. It's not us, it's you. So any coach that feels like they can thrive in that which Brian Kelly obviously couldn't come down here and do it. Okay. Take. Before we go real quick. That Brian Kelly could. Yeah.
Joel Anderson
For that environment. Yeah.
Tate Frazier
He's a different kind of.
Joel Anderson
Though.
Tate Frazier
Yeah.
Van Lathan
You gotta be charming. That's the thing. He was. He was charming.
Joel Anderson
All right.
Van Lathan
Tommy Loyal. Tommy Lloyd.
Tate Frazier
Would I want him to be the coach. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes.
Joel Anderson
Take him, please. Get him out of the Big 12.
Van Lathan
Todd Golden.
Joel Anderson
Honestly, really
Tate Frazier
not my guy.
Joel Anderson
Not so. Okay.
Tate Frazier
Wow.
Joel Anderson
Okay.
Van Lathan
No, no, no.
Joel Anderson
What?
Tate Frazier
No, just not a character fit.
Joel Anderson
Wow. Wow.
Tate Frazier
Me, Personally, I like NATOats, but he's not a Carolina guy, so. No.
Van Lathan
Dan Hurley.
Joel Anderson
No, really.
Van Lathan
Hold on. So really, so. No. So.
Tate Frazier
Wow. You gotta fit. You gotta fit.
Van Lathan
Okay, so who. Who are your guys, then? Who are your guys?
Tate Frazier
Dusty May, Tommy Lloyd, TJ Otzelberger. I do love Jerry Stackhouse.
Joel Anderson
Jerry Stackhouse, man.
Van Lathan
Again, I love his Stack House.
Tate Frazier
Jerry Stackhouse, like, if you think California, I promise you. Jerry Stackhouse. Get those players.
Joel Anderson
Vanderbilt just didn't go so well, man.
Tate Frazier
Grant McCasn. Yes.
Joel Anderson
Okay. All right.
Tate Frazier
That's my guy.
Joel Anderson
Remember, you were talking. Were you. Were you being serious about Kelvin Sampson, who is a North Carolina.
Tate Frazier
I mean, shout out to Lumberton. That's. I mean, he's just, you know, he's already good. He's. He's good at Houston. We don't want to take him away. But if it was 10 years ago and Kelvin Sampson was out there doing what he's doing at Houston all day. Give me Kelly Sampson.
Van Lathan
Indiana.
Joel Anderson
Indiana just must just be heartbroken because they could. They.
Tate Frazier
I mean, they would have won at least two titles.
Joel Anderson
Yeah, man, Having Kelvin Sampson there really would have just saved that basketball program and make them relevant in a way that they've just. When you talk to kids probably now or, you know, whatever, the next generation growing up, and you're like, you know, Indiana used to be good at football. That's like, when people would come to us and be like, well, you know, army competed for the national championship in 1962 or whatever. He's like, damn. For real.
Van Lathan
Basketball. Indiana used to be good.
Joel Anderson
No, basketball. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, that's. But that's, like. For football. Yeah. It's just like, yeah, Yeah. I didn't believe it, you know?
Tate Frazier
Yeah. It's like, do you remember Iran Contra? I don't know.
Joel Anderson
Yeah. Hey, I don't know if they do remember.
Tate Frazier
Joel started giving us mile markers in history.
Joel Anderson
That's right, bro. That Doug Flutie. Hail Mary, man. Y' all didn't see that. Y' all remember that? I saw the Jim Valvano. That was. That is my first memory. Derek Wittenberg catching the. Derek Wittenberg throwing it up in low and low. Charles.
Tate Frazier
Lorenzo Charles. Yeah.
Joel Anderson
Yeah. Grabbing it out.
Marcus Lattimore
Yes.
Joel Anderson
First college. First sports memory ever. Like, the first thing that I broke through because. Yeah, I was a big.
Tate Frazier
How old were you?
Joel Anderson
Five. Five or six.
Tate Frazier
Yeah, that was a tough game. That's the greatest airball in history.
Joel Anderson
I mean, man, it just is, so. It was so hurtful, man. And then Akeem and then went back the next year and lost Georgetown. Georgetown.
Tate Frazier
Patrick Ewing.
Joel Anderson
Yeah. You know, but they didn't have Clyde Drexler. Clyde Drexler going on to the league. And so.
Tate Frazier
Yeah.
Joel Anderson
Anyway, so you. It was just a lot of. A lot of pain. How did we get here?
Tate Frazier
I just want Houston to figure it out. Win a title for Joel.
Joel Anderson
Kelvin Sampson. Yeah, man. I man. Appreciate that, bro. Thank you. I. Look, man, I. North Carolina.
Tate Frazier
Oh. Actually for Billy. Sorry, I forgot. Billy is actually the Houston.
Joel Anderson
I told you he's not. You're not gonna. You're not gonna spoil it for me, bro. What is this?
Tate Frazier
What is this picture that you sent us that you were spending, like, an hour looking for that?
Joel Anderson
This is not even the one.
Tate Frazier
Water.
Joel Anderson
It's not even the one that I was looking for, but it was in the newspaper, is what I'm trying to show you.
Tate Frazier
It's. It's you taking off your helmet.
Van Lathan
Yeah.
Joel Anderson
All right. That was basically my career right there. Where is. I can't fight. But there was one for me in high school, in track, and I'm crossing. I'm crossing the line in first place, and you can just see my ass. This youth, bruh. Youth, man. I was young, Vero young, man. But anyway, so, yeah, I was winning.
Tate Frazier
Well, I'm excited for the. For the tailgaters combine. We're gonna get it together.
Van Lathan
I'm excited.
Joel Anderson
Three months.
Van Lathan
Give me three.
Joel Anderson
Three.
Van Lathan
Three.
Joel Anderson
Four months.
Van Lathan
Four. Three. July. It's in July.
Tate Frazier
Yeah, it's in July. We should bring out some tailgaters before the season. Yeah.
Joel Anderson
Like, it starts to celebrate the season.
Van Lathan
You know what? I'll allow it.
Joel Anderson
Yeah.
Van Lathan
Like. Like, August is fine. August right before the season, and then.
Tate Frazier
No excuses, Joel, because you got an extra month.
Joel Anderson
I got an extra month. I want to take care of it, man.
Tate Frazier
Would you take steroids for this, Joel?
Joel Anderson
Yes. Yeah, I would take steroids anyway. If anybody. For real. If you got an HGH hookup out here in our audience, bro.
Tate Frazier
Can we make Joe take a piss test before he does? That'd be great.
Van Lathan
Joe gonna come back with a big ass tumor growth. Remember that?
Marcus Lattimore
Y' all remember that?
Van Lathan
Like big ass growth on the side of this. What the is going on? His shoulders gonna be popping, though.
Joel Anderson
Oh, man, I can't wait. I want to get behind. You know, I've been. I. I've been needing something to. To get me in the gym. So I'm with it, man. I'm ready to do it, you know. Time. Time is now.
Van Lathan
Wait four months. Can't wait.
Tate Frazier
I can't wait either. Time is now. Four months,
Joel Anderson
Billy.
Van Lathan
In a 60 yard dash, we're gonna have a very famous. Because y' all like, see like on Fast and the Furious where they drop the. The sash and then they run. You see the ladies go like this. You have a very famous podiatrist from Houston.
Joel Anderson
What are we doing?
Tate Frazier
Maybe in Miam or student out there doing it for Joel.
Joel Anderson
What are we doing, bro? Oh, my God. I saved you last week, man. I really did. I really did because I could. I could have. I could have brought it up, but I'm not going to do it. You know what I'm saying? But you know what? That, you. You know what? That, that person. I can't. You know what? I can't. Forget it. Just forget it.
Marcus Lattimore
I can't.
Joel Anderson
Yeah, there's no way. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm gonna be responsible here. I'm gonna be.
Tate Frazier
I think that's the perfect time and the perfect lead in joining us now. We're gonna have South Car and a guy who's a college football legend join us. We got Marcus Latimore coming on Ring or Tailgate right now after this. So good, so good, so good.
Marcus Lattimore
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Tate Frazier
How did I not know rack has Adidas?
Joel Anderson
Cause there's always something new.
Marcus Lattimore
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Tate Frazier
Plus, buy online and pick up at
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Joel Anderson
Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack.
Tate Frazier
All right, joining us now on Ringer Tailgate as promised, we got a legend from South Carolina and beyond joining the show. Very excited about this. Welcome to the show. Marcus Lattimore. How's it going, man? Welcome to Ringer Tailgate.
Marcus Lattimore
I'm happy to be here. Thank you. Invite.
Tate Frazier
Yeah, man, we're fired up. Joel said he has a million questions. Van, I'll let you start and then we'll let Joel ruminate before he gets cooking up here.
Van Lathan
Well, before we do it, we got to get Marcus to join in on our tradition, man. You know what we do? We start off, we raise the roof, brother.
Joel Anderson
Oh, yeah, we raise the roof.
Van Lathan
There you go.
Joel Anderson
Okay, man.
Van Lathan
Like, obviously anybody who is a college football lover is so familiar with your story, everything that you went through, the excellence on the field, the adversity. Off it easy. First question. If I'm asking Marcus Lattimore to give one piece of advice to any incoming freshman that's going to go play big time college football, what would that piece of advice be?
Marcus Lattimore
What I would. I'm thinking what I would have said to myself.
Van Lathan
That's even a better question. What would you have said to yourself? I like this ponderance.
Joel Anderson
Yeah. Usually. Yeah.
Marcus Lattimore
God, that's. I was just writing something.
Joel Anderson
Talk.
Marcus Lattimore
Talking to football. Like, I was personifying a football. And it was just like, you know, when you become great at something, when you. When you excel at something, a lot of outside variables start to come into the equation that really don't matter. And I don't know, I lost a lot of love for the game in college. So try to safeguard the joy that you felt when you were eight years old playing the game. Safeguard. Like, protect that with all your heart. Like, safeguard that.
Joel Anderson
Wow. Can I ask you. Yeah. How
Marcus Lattimore
ow it'll be, man, keeping your circle of people positive. And. Talk, talking, when it's. When things become overwhelming. Like, like, like talk about it. Like, I mean, it's easy to say, like, work on your emotional resilience or work on emotional regulation, but, God, like, I mean, that's so hard at that age. Like, it's so many things coming at you. Like, have some conscious human beings around you, like, who can keep you grounded. I think it's something along the lines of what I would say.
Joel Anderson
Wow. So it's interesting that you started here, and I'm glad. That was a fantastic question from Van. So, you know, when I've explained it to people, too, that, like, oh, man, football actually is just not as fun. Like, once she gets to college, it just, you know, the joy of the game can sort of leave you. Right. So what. How did it happen to you? Like, at what point did you realize this is just different? Like, this is not being at home? Playing with my homeboys in High School.
Marcus Lattimore
September 11, 2010, against the University of Georgia, my freshman year, second game, I run for 187 yards, 37 carries.
Tate Frazier
Georgia, right?
Marcus Lattimore
Yeah. 42 broken tackles. Life was. I mean, at that point. I mean, the fourth quarter rolls around, and there's about four minutes left, and, you know, like, that's running back time. It's time to eat the clock. And, I mean, we're up 13 to 6 at the time, and it. I mean, they just. Coach Spurrier is feeding. Feeding me the ball every play, and I'm breaking tackles, and I'm gaining 5 yards, 6 yards, 7 yards. And then the whole stadium, during a timeout, starts to erupt with my last name. So, like, 80,000 people screaming louder.
Van Lathan
More
Marcus Lattimore
like, in that. That sent me to the stratosphere in Columbia, South Carolina. In the state of South Carolina. So life was never the same after that. Football was never the same after that.
Van Lathan
It became less fun after that moment. It wasn't more fun.
Marcus Lattimore
It became. The pressure rose. Like, the pressure rose inside of me, I think. And everywhere I went, I just. I was a very introverted kid, but now everywhere I went, I was reminded of how great I am, how great. How great I am by everybody that I came in contact with. I mean, at the store, at the grocery store, at the gas station. I mean, just no matter where you go in the bathroom, hell, I don't know, man. It. Number 21, loved it. But Marcus, like. Like. Like me. Like, I. It was very uncomfortable.
Joel Anderson
I don't know.
Marcus Lattimore
I just. It just became, like, this whole mental trip. Like, I don't know. I was just.
Tate Frazier
There's, like, the Persona, and then there's the person. Right. And you're saying, like, the Persona basically became the talking point as opposed to the person. And then you kind of feel removed from the two things, which is. That's a fascinating sort of diagnosis there, because I think a lot of people.
Marcus Lattimore
I mean, you articulated it better than I could like it. It's that. Yeah.
Joel Anderson
What did you. At what point did you learn or understand that it was that and maybe learn to articulate it, even just tell yourself that, because the first time you feel that way, it almost. It's kind of crushing. Right? He's like, oh, I've wanted my whole life to be doing this shit, and I don't even like it. So what. How did you come to grips with that?
Marcus Lattimore
Ooh. Coming to grips with it. Well, first of all, like, football at that level, I mean, it's the highest level of football besides the NFL. And, you know, I'm dealing with a lot of nicks on my body. I'm getting hurt. I'm just getting hurt a little bit more. Like. Like an ankle here or sprained shoulder there, a concussion. And it's like. But I. I can't. I'm the guy. Like, I have to keep going, you know, I have to. I'm the guy that everybody's depending on. So, like, I just have to keep going. And. Oh, no. Mix with the physical pain and the publicity of, you know, in Columbia, South Carolina, that, I don't know, I think it might have started, like, my. It really might have started my sophomore year. Like, going into my sophomore year where they're talking, you know, there's ringings of the word Heisman behind your name.
Van Lathan
Yeah.
Marcus Lattimore
So, like, that kind of. I don't know, man. I faked it for. I faked it for a long time. Like, I enjoy. And here's the thing. I enjoyed footballing, but also at the same time, there was a part of me that didn't want to do it.
Van Lathan
Marcus, I'm going to ask a question that having followed your career, I would have never, ever, ever even seen, suspected, could be a possibility in any way. Did your injury liberate you?
Marcus Lattimore
Yes.
Tate Frazier
Yes.
Marcus Lattimore
It gave.
Tate Frazier
Got you off the treadmill.
Marcus Lattimore
Yeah.
Tate Frazier
Yeah. Like you were running the rat race and then finally you're like, I can't run anymore. Now I have a real reason not to.
Marcus Lattimore
Yeah. And here's the thing. Like, it starts a little bit deeper, y', all, like, because, I mean, I grow. I. When you grow up in a football town and your high school is ranked top five in the nation every year, you. You don't. You don't start in high school. You start at 6 years old and you run the same plays that the high school runs. And I mean, it was my community's dream to. For me to excel at this sport. It was my. All of my friends dreams. It was. We. We all had the same dream. And I don't know if I just inherited that dream or if it was like mine, like. Like something that I actually chose. I'm. Now it sounds like I'm. I'm being, you know, pessimistic around about my experience, but I just have to be honest with y'.
Joel Anderson
All.
Marcus Lattimore
Like, it's. It's. It just wasn't something that I. I chose football. I love the game of football and I'm so grateful for my experience. Like, looking at it now as a 34 year old man, I'm grateful for what I went through and all the people that I met. I got to travel. I Got to experience different cultures because of the game of football. And I mean, hey, we did. There was some glimpses of. There was glimpses of joy through. Scattered throughout my whole career. Although it was very brief. But yeah, it's a. It's a complicated relationship with the game. I love it. But I also. There's a part of me that's just like, You know, indifferent. Indifferent too.
Van Lathan
I'm with it. Yeah.
Joel Anderson
So are you close to the game at all? Because I know after you stopped playing, you. You. You did some of the coaching stuff, right? You were a high school coach. You did. You worked back at South Carolina as director of player development. You were running backs coach in college. Like, so what is your relationship with the game today?
Marcus Lattimore
Yeah, I mean, those felt like natural progressions right after the game was over. Cause I didn't know what to do with my life. It was a community that I was comfortable with. And I mean, I still have players that I keep up with to this day and coaches and teammates that I keep up with to this day. My relationship with the game, I mean, I still watch the game. It's just something in my body that happens around August that is just like, it's time to tune in and see what's going on. I watch sports, I enjoy watching the game. But I live in Portland, Oregon now. And Saturdays in the Southeast versus Saturdays in the Northwest. It's just a completely different culture shift. There's a lot more things going on. So my life doesn't revolve around it anymore. But I do enjoy the entertainment of it and also just keeping up with the guys that I played with.
Tate Frazier
Speaking of some of those guys that you played with, you know, you had Stephan Gilmore, who's there at South Carolina while you're there. You also had Jadavion Clowney who comes in right after you in the next year. And you talked about being a South Carolina kid and being around that environment. And obviously Jadavion had a very similar experience. He's a prodigy. He's from South Carolina, from Rock Hill. He comes in right there, right behind you. And did you feel like you had something like something relatable there with him? Because he sort of had the same sort of pressures built in like you did, where there's such high expectations. The state is all watching you. You guys are, you know, you're. You're Jordan Famous in the state of South Carolina. Right? Everybody knows you guys. And now you're in the bunker together. Like, how much did you try to take Jadevion under your wing and how nice of it was it for you to kind of have somebody that at least understood what you were going through at some level.
Marcus Lattimore
Man, Jadevian is like a. He has like this natural comedic side to him. And I think it, I think that was because of like how talented he was. Like, like I've never seen anybody on that particular level. Just like his physicality, his speed, his strength, like everything all into one. I saw it in high school, before he was in, before he even came to Carolina. But there was always this thread of humor with him and I don't know, I think it was because he knew, I mean, this was like a child's game for him actually, if you go back and watch some of the highlights, I mean, he didn't really have to try. He's just a funny dude. Like, I mean he kept things light, he kept the levity in the room at all times. As far as taking him under my wing, I mean he was famous.
Tate Frazier
I remember you defending him.
Marcus Lattimore
He was famous as a freshman in high school.
Tate Frazier
Yeah, I remember like in the media like they would have like some push like people asking about him. And I remember you kind of, you know, kind of not like defending him but like kind of sticking your neck out for him sometimes just to kind of be like, you know, that's Jadevion. He's playful like what you're saying, you know, and I felt like that was always. It just felt like you kind, you guys kind of had to have each other's backs because of the pressure that was there.
Marcus Lattimore
No, no doubt, no doubt. I mean we've done, we've experienced a lot of things together and. But because of our stature in that state and I don't know, he handled it well. You know, he handled it the way Jade, he, he was somebody who never lost himself throughout the fame.
Joel Anderson
Yeah.
Marcus Lattimore
Like he was always who he would to who he is.
Van Lathan
Did he ever tell you he was a better running back than you because he played running back in high school?
Marcus Lattimore
Have you seen those clips?
Van Lathan
I have seen them. It was ridiculous if you guys have never seen it. Jadevion Clowney was a running back in high school and it was, it's freakish.
Marcus Lattimore
It's ridiculous. I mean like he's take. He's in a three point stance, two yards behind the quarterback, no taking fullback, you know, taking full back dives. And it's just like, who's stopping that? No, nobody.
Van Lathan
Nobody stopping it. I want to ask you something real quick before we get onto your post football playing career. So Tate up here is from North Carolina. And I don't know if you know anything about the history of North Carolina and South Carolina. Tate tells us this very direct history about North Carolina and the Civil War and all of that stuff.
Joel Anderson
Oh, man. Oh, man.
Van Lathan
So he claims that North Carolina was implicated into the Civil War by South Carolina.
Tate Frazier
South Carolina seceded. Yeah.
Van Lathan
He blames you guys. He blames. He said this.
Tate Frazier
I don't blame you, Marcus. I think it was a different people in South Carolina.
Joel Anderson
No, he blames.
Van Lathan
Cause we've. Like the rest of us. I'm from Louisiana. I just straight up say we did what we did. Tate claims that North Carolina would have had a clean hand in the Civil War if not were you bunch of motherfuckers from South Carolina that brought them down. Do you want to speak to this at all, Marcus?
Marcus Lattimore
I plead the fifth. I don't really know anything about that. That's funny, though. Damn, that's funny.
Van Lathan
Yeah. Tate blames. On tape, blames y', all, man.
Joel Anderson
Well, wait, I mean, I guess, like, Fort Sumter kind of is. I mean, that is the. Is that considered to be the official beginning of the Civil War? Like where the first cannons went off? Am I getting that right? Ask your mom, Tate. His mom is. His mom is an educator. She's about you.
Van Lathan
Big.
Joel Anderson
Yeah, I didn't. But just talk about it.
Marcus Lattimore
Hey, is that true? I mean, like, I. I thought it was somewhere near Isle of Palms down, you know, like.
Joel Anderson
Oh, see, look, you probably took a lot of Carolina history, so.
Marcus Lattimore
Yeah, Isle of Palms, South Carolina. I mean, I. Look, I don't. I don't know. I'm not even like.
Van Lathan
So I do want to ask you this so we could. So, you know, I am a big, big LSU fan. I follow SEC football. Everyone that watch SEC football watches. Watch this, like, effortless power back from South Carolina. Just chew up yards, chew up the clock, batter your defense, make your guys quit the whole nine. The essence of tough SEC football in the position, the way you played the position, your post playing career, with everything that Joel has talked about. But now where you are, when I go to your Instagram and I see the poems, I see the artistic expression, I see a completely different interpretation that I would have had of you. Someone that seems to be reaching out to the universe creatively and energetically and is very authentic in the curiosity, the love for the arts, all of that stuff. When was it in your life that you felt comfortable embracing the Lattimore that we know now and leaving the bruising, just force of nature on the field behind?
Marcus Lattimore
I got A poem about lsu, by the way. Band that I'll have to sing. It's about Lil Boosie and, you know, like, listening to his lyrics, like, before games and how that. I don't know how that infiltrated our system, but that. That. That's a great question. It happened when I'm. It happened when I moved here to Oregon.
Van Lathan
Okay.
Marcus Lattimore
You know, just new environment, new landscape, new way of thinking. I mean, Oregon by far has the most dramatic landscape in America. So, like, anywhere you go, you just feel inspired. And, you know, we moved here during COVID And during that time, there wasn't much going on, but to be in nature and go see the beauty of the Northwest. And, you know, throughout that time, you know, silence, like. Like I started to find that love for silence and stillness. And through that, you know, I discover some things about myself. Like, I was able to self reflect and start journaling. And, you know, I just felt this started opening up more space in my mind. Van. Like, I didn't have room for imagination or creativity where I was. Because in South Carolina, because I was expected to be a public figure, going to this charity and doing this for Gamecock football. And that was gonna be my life for the next three to four decades. If I would have stayed in South Carolina, which is not a bad life, because financially, you're going to be stable and people love you, and you just. That guy like you. That guy everywhere you go. That's not a bad life. I'm not saying it is, but I just thought that there was more for me. I thought there was more for me than being the retired Gamecock legend. I just didn't want my story to end right there. So it was moving to Oregon. Moving to Oregon and feeling inspired by the nature here. That's what happened. And I'll tell you, this is why I'm thankful for football. Because when I decided that I wanted to or nature decided for me that I was going to be a writer, I knew I could do it just because. Just because of what I did in football. Like. Like I knew how to practice at something, you know, and. And stick. Like, persist, you know, even when I don't know what I'm doing. Hell, I still don't know what I'm doing. I'm only. I'm only. I'm a kindergartner in terms of poetic years, you know, so. But I'm not. I'm not afraid to try. I'm just not afraid to try it. And it was something that just felt natural. So it's a skill that I'm currently cultivating. And it's, you know, it's. It's my life. It's going to be my life's work. So, I mean, there's no end to this, so I'm just going to, you know, keep going. But it happened when I. When I moved here to Oregon. I moved here to Oregon. You know, before that moment. You know, I was at the University of South Carolina hall of fame banquet in 2019, and, you know, I was being inducted into the University of South Carolina Athletics hall of Fame. You know, I see my, like, memorial. You know, they got my jersey, they got my. They got flowers next to my jersey, they got my hall of Fame jacket, and, you know, some of the accomplishments that are. And in that moment, that. That's when it hit me. VAN. It's just like, oh, so this is it. Like. Like it was almost like a funeral. That's what it felt like.
Tate Frazier
That's what it sounds like.
Van Lathan
I wrote a piece, and in this piece, I said that an athlete actually dies. An athlete is born twice and an athlete dies twice.
Marcus Lattimore
Oh, gosh.
Van Lathan
Like, when you're born a person, you are born a person. But then when you're 11 or 12, you get born again, right? And you get a nickname and you get all of that stuff, right? Then you die twice. That person dies the moment that they put you in a Hall of Fame or when you retire or you. All of that stuff. And then, like the rest of us, you gotta transition again. So that that dynamic of you sitting there watching people put flowers and memorials by your name while you're still there is something that a lot of people don't have to do. They don't retire you that way from being a CPA or from working at the plant. You know what I'm saying? Like, it just. It doesn't happen. But very well said. I know Joel's got some stuff.
Joel Anderson
No, no, no, no, no. I mean, that was beautiful. And I actually, to that point, one of the things that I've been struck by this phase in your life is that you talk so much about race and racism and the state of the world in your work. And one thing about football is that sometimes it can kind of keep you away, even from that side of campus, right? Like, is this like that? You know, your job is to be around a football facility and not spend as much time over there. So I'm just kind of wondering, at what point did you come to that and you started to feel more comfortable talking that way publicly, because I imagine that if you were still in South Carolina. That would be a much, much more difficult way to go about life, right?
Marcus Lattimore
Yes, Joe, that is very true. You know, South Carolina is a beautiful state, beautiful people. I love being in the low country, near the water, love being in the mountains, you know, kind of like where I'm from. But, I mean, it's still South Carolina. And because I was highly. A highly touted athlete, Southern black athlete that excelled at his sport in a state like South Carolina, I was given privileges that the average black man would not be given. And that was always something, you know, from age 19 to about. I think I was 27 when George Floyd. When George Floyd was murdered. Up until, like, I saw how I was treated, you know, like, in certain spaces. And then I saw how, you know, a black man who did not excel at a sport in the state of South. I saw how they were treated, like. And so I saw racism insulated in whiteness, in elite whiteness.
Van Lathan
Let me.
Marcus Lattimore
Let me say that first. Like, when I say elite whiteness, I'm talking about, like, the people who. The people who run the state and who have been running the state for centuries. So, like, you get into those circles, like, I mean, I was in a small town in South Carolina, no name town in South Carolina, population maybe 700 people. And I'm talking, you know, to a House of Representatives, member of the House of Representatives. And, you know, he. He would, you know, he whispers to me. He's just like, you know, if you. If you need anything for your foundation, we can. We can get that. We can get that taken care of. And, you know, he whispered it. You can't. He can't say that out loud. And that memory always stuck with me because as my. As I guess my. My consciousness began to activate, I started to see that, oh, this is how everything works.
Tate Frazier
The double standard.
Marcus Lattimore
The double standard. This is. This is how it works. Like, they make the rules. They determine what Bill gets passed.
Van Lathan
What.
Marcus Lattimore
Like, it just all clicked for me, that memory. And then, like, George Floyd happened, and all of these memories of black people being oppressed just started to flood my mind. And how I just, you know, I was unscathed. I was unscathed, but I was watching it happen, and I just couldn't. I don't know, I just couldn't watch it happen anymore, Joe. Like, it was George Floyd that activated it. I mean, I assume it was just like when they saw the picture of Emmett Till's face, you know, like how millions of people's consciousness activated. It was George Floyd that activated But I had always had. Saw how, you know, black men, black women were treated in the state of South Carolina. You know, like, it's just. Yeah,
Van Lathan
you say profound things about how you saw it and how it didn't affect you or how it didn't not. Didn't affect you, how it wasn't something that you were going through. Why do you think a lot of athletes. I'm just gonna be real. A lot of athletes have trouble with that distinction. We hear from athletes all the time that say, well, I've never experienced any racism. It doesn't affect me. And we've talked about it before on the podcast. I know what they mean. They get pulled over by the police. It's, hey, call my coach, whatever, whatever. You. If you are a big time LSU athlete, wherever you go in Baton Rouge, your table is right here. Number 21. Your table is right here. We waiting for you. What do you think is the disconnect that exists sometimes that makes those young brothers sometimes feel like because they're not experiencing it, that it doesn't exist?
Marcus Lattimore
It's too comfortable. It's too. It's cozy. It's the money too good. The money too good. The, The. The. The circles that you get in. I mean, anything. Like, your mama need a job, your daddy need a job. Like, I mean, your sister need a job. Like, I mean, it's. It's. It's an existence of God. It's so cozy. It's so cozy. Till it ain't. Until. Until. It's that cognitive dissonance that we. That some black athletes who are highly touted, particularly in the South, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, like, exactly what you talking about. Those examples right there. Like, we don't want to see that. We don't want to believe that, because look at how I'm living. I made it. I made it. Whatever that mean.
Joel Anderson
If I could peel your leg up or let's even say you're coming back to play football today, right? Would you want to be like, if you. If you like knowing what you know now and you can come back and there's the nil. There's a lot more player freedom today. Like, you could have gotten rich in college, you know, if. If you'd come along a decade later, would. But would you want to play football today if you could again,
Marcus Lattimore
for that money, for.
Joel Anderson
Yeah, that's what I'm talking about, man.
Marcus Lattimore
Like, yeah, I mean, we would have been getting it. Like, oh, man, you and your Davion,
Tate Frazier
you guys would have been making $5 million.
Joel Anderson
You've been living in a country club, man.
Van Lathan
Generational money. Like you try to try to get one of these seven year deals, right?
Marcus Lattimore
Nah, Joe, I mean, I don't know what I would do with that. With my, you know, mental state during, between the ages 18 to 22. Like, I don't know what I would do with that type of money. I don't, I don't know how that would have affected me. Yeah, I don't think I want to know. Honestly, I don't, I don't want to know.
Van Lathan
Are you happy the young guys are getting it?
Marcus Lattimore
I'm, I'm happy. I'm happy they getting it. But man, like, I hope they think that the money is it like, like the money is, is, is the thing. I mean, maybe it's a blessing. Let me, let me, let me retract. Maybe it's a blessing that you get it early so you realize that that ain't it. That ain't the thing you was looking for. Maybe it is. Maybe it's a blessing. I'm glad they, you know what, I'm glad they're getting it so, so they can realize that that ain't where the,
Tate Frazier
they have enough time to pivot.
Marcus Lattimore
Yeah, that ain't where the fulfillment gonna come from though. Like it comes from something a little bit deeper, like something meaningful. Like if it, the money's, the money and the money is going to allow them time to self reflect. And I think that's the biggest blessing that I got as well. Like, I didn't, I'm not a millionaire by any means, but I made, I made enough Money with the 49ers to sit on my ass in Oregon for a year and about 18 months to self reflect and be in silence. That's the privilege that money gives you. Money gives you time to not be in the rat race. So, yeah, like, I'm kind of glad they getting it. Yeah. And you know, hopefully the, hopefully universities are cognizant enough to put some therapists, like you can director player development, you got chief of staff, you got general manager now you got all these different off the field roles in collegiate sports, but you ain't got no full time psychologists that they can talk to about like what's happening to their brain when they get this money. Yeah. So like, I mean, hopefully that's happening.
Joel Anderson
I've always kind of wondered about that. Marcus. I'm sorry, excuse me. But I always, because you talk about like losing love for the game or even you, I heard you in a previous interview talk about, you know, having A little bit of fear about your leg, right. Going back out there. And I'm thinking, oh, this is like anxiety or whatever else. And like, you think that that would be a normal part of the care of the athlete, but it really isn't. Like, so much of what is going on up here is just not really the purview of the college football program.
Van Lathan
Right.
Joel Anderson
Like, there's just not a lot of concern with how the players feel or how they're doing or how they're internalizing rehab. Being away from the team, being away from the game they love. Like, that is a thing. But you never, I'm assuming you never got a chance to talk with anybody about that, right?
Marcus Lattimore
I think, I think the greatest value that a psychologist or a psychotherapist, you know, like, being there, a part of the team would add is that, you know, like, for example, that specific, like, about my knee, like, in my ACL tearing my ACL and mcl, like, I would be able to talk to somebody that helps me shift my perspective, you know, like. And I had. I mean, after my first injury, I did. I talked to our sport. I talked to a sports psychologist.
Joel Anderson
Okay.
Marcus Lattimore
It was just like a initial. It was just a one off, like a one off thing, you know, I'm Joe. I think, I think the value is like, they're a part of the team. Like, they're. They're in the meetings, they're at practice.
Tate Frazier
Then the coaches don't feel like they're adversarial. They feel like they're a part of. You know what I mean? Like, because that's. That also feels like something too, where it's like they're almost pulling you away from. From that to get you back focused on the team or whatever, you know.
Marcus Lattimore
Tate, I mean. Yeah, you bring up a point. Like, I mean, we play through a lot. I mean, I guess that's. That's kind of a given, you know, you play through a lot of pain, you know, And I could. I could definitely see how that could cause a friction with a head coach, you know, a head coach and a therapist. But if the head coach is really about, you know, the, the kids in the locker room, they would welcome it. Not about. Not about just winning, you know.
Joel Anderson
So.
Van Lathan
Last question.
Tate Frazier
I do want to ask about your head.
Van Lathan
Oh, go.
Tate Frazier
Oh, yeah, go ahead.
Joel Anderson
No, no, no, no.
Van Lathan
Go. Go ahead.
Tate Frazier
I just was going to ask about you, about your head coach, just Steve Spurrier and, and just the, the person that Coach Spurrier met. When you went to South Carolina, you talked about that Version of. Of Marcus versus the version that exists now. And, like, a relationship that you have with Steve Spurrier and, like, how do you. Like for you and to have him as a coach? Like, how do you still have a relationship with Coach Barrier? Like, what. What was that relationship like? Did you feel like you were comfortable enough to have that kind? Because it always felt like Coach Barrier was kind of like a player's coach at some level. Yes, he was really hard, but he always kind of felt like he was in the foxhole with everybody, too. Like, what is that dynamic? Like? And, like, what version of Marcus can deal with him? Or is it all versions of Marcus can deal with him?
Marcus Lattimore
Yeah. Yeah, that's my guy. You know, I don't know what he thinks about who I am today. I don't. That's not something that we. We discuss last time. I thought it's been like, a few months, you know, since
Van Lathan
that. Regularly, though?
Marcus Lattimore
A couple times a year.
Joel Anderson
Okay.
Marcus Lattimore
Yeah, a couple times a year. I mean, it's.
Van Lathan
It's.
Marcus Lattimore
It's not. Yeah, it's not. It's not frequent, but we do keep in contact. That's my guy. Yeah. Yeah.
Joel Anderson
I.
Marcus Lattimore
A part of me cares what he thinks about me today. You know, I will say that. Like, what he thinks about my stances and how I see reality, because I love Coach Spurrier. I love him, and I love his wife and I love his family. They were nothing but good to me. He loved me. It always seemed like he truly loved me. And he gave me the ball. I mean, like, go back and I go back and look at my career, and I'm just like. You know, people say, oh, he. Every time a clip of me comes up on Instagram or X or Twitter, oh, they. They ran him into the ground. They ran him. Coach Spurrier ran him. And it's just like. Yeah, but, like, I wanted the ball. Yeah, he gave me the ball. I wanted the ball. Like, I just. That was my. That's what I did. I wanted the ball, and that's what he gave. He gave it to me. So, yeah, that's my guy.
Van Lathan
Last question for me. Something happened two years before you got to South Carolina, and it was during the South Carolina LSU game. I don't know if you remember it. Do you remember the ref hit on. Have you ever seen this? I want.
Marcus Lattimore
I think I was.
Van Lathan
I want to get.
Marcus Lattimore
It was in Williams. Bryce, right?
Van Lathan
Yeah. I want to get your opinion on this. Whether or not you think that this ref. You remember, there was a. I wish we could play it Two years before a ref made a tackle on a South Carolina player for LSU. Do you remember this?
Marcus Lattimore
This was 2008, you're saying, right?
Van Lathan
2008. I want to know.
Marcus Lattimore
2008. I was at that game.
Van Lathan
Oh, see, See, Y' all don't remember.
Marcus Lattimore
I was in the stand at that game.
Van Lathan
It was.
Joel Anderson
I don't remember this.
Van Lathan
The ref's name was Wilbur Hackett Jr. And if. And Coach Spurgeon said he didn't mean to do it is the guy was coming through in the ref. Tater, you watching it?
Tate Frazier
I'm trying to pull it up right now.
Van Lathan
All right, pull it up. Play. I want to know, do you think.
Tate Frazier
Because it was Steven Garcia that got
Van Lathan
hit by the ref, Steven Garcia got hit by the ref. And what I want to do.
Tate Frazier
He got shoulder checked by the ref,
Van Lathan
shoulder checked by the ref.
Joel Anderson
What I want to know.
Van Lathan
I have conversations with my South Carolina people about this all the time. This still bothers Charlamagne after all of these years. Do you think that the ref in this case was actually trying to make a tackle on South Carolina quarterback Steven Garcia? Shout out to Steven Garcia, man. He used to be a little.
Joel Anderson
Oh, shit, man. He did get him.
Van Lathan
Y' all remember this play? I want to tell him.
Tate Frazier
He was active.
Van Lathan
He was active. Do you think he was trying to make that tackle? Coach Spurgeon said he. He wasn't. They said it was just an accident. But Hackett used to be a lot. He set that edge. He said, I think he. I think he set the edge for lsu. I think he did. He said, what's your opinion? You remember to play. What's your opinion? As. What's your opinion
Marcus Lattimore
now? You know, Garcia got a lot of back. Garcia has, like, a checkered person reputation.
Van Lathan
Oh, does he?
Joel Anderson
Like.
Marcus Lattimore
So he might have. He might have been coming for Garcia, actually. He might have been trying to get him.
Van Lathan
That's. That's one of. That's one of the most. To me, that's one of the most legendary moments between LSU and South Carolina, man. Before we get you out of here, I want to say something. This is one of the most enlightening, one of the most refreshing conversations I have ever had with a professional or college athlete.
Joel Anderson
Yeah, man.
Van Lathan
I think your evolution and what it is that you're doing right now and who I knew you to be from watching you very fascinating, brother. And I wish you all kinds of luck in your life and in your endeavor to create your art, man.
Joel Anderson
You know what, Van? That's beautiful, nigga. I wasn't done asking questions.
Van Lathan
Oh, my bad.
Joel Anderson
I had one more question. Go for it. Yeah. I mean, come on. Can I ask my final question, bro?
Van Lathan
Go for it.
Joel Anderson
Damn. All right, so we didn't even talk about, like, your influences in writing because you actually put me on to this Nas and Lauryn Hill joint alone. I finally started listening to that today. He talks about it in a previous interview with Johnny Manziel. You know what I'm saying? So I. And people, because, you know, I write for a living, you know, Van kind of dabbles. Tate, you know, tries to give me lead advice, but he's not good at it, you know, But I tell people I'm like, yo, like, rappers are some of the best influences for writing to me, like, when I'm trying to get in the zone. So who are your influences? Because you've even listed, like, Southern cultures and preachers is some of your influences. So, like, who are your influences when you're writing? Like, what voices are you hearing? What's shaping the words that you put on the page?
Marcus Lattimore
Damn, Joe. Like, man, that. It's so fluid. Yeah, it's so fluid. Because, I mean, in my Google, in my Gmail, you know, this, like, every day on Poetry Foundation, I read, you know, like, I'm reading somebody new, and I'm in. Intrigued by that person. But, like, the mainstays, I mean, you kind of. You just name one. Nas. Like, Nas is a mainstay in what I'm attempting to conjure in the listener's mind. Nas is a mainstay. Oscar Brown Jr. Is a mainstay. Oscar Brown Jr. He was a jazz. Jazz enthusiast. He wrote this poem called Bid a Man. I'm trying to. What?
Joel Anderson
He.
Marcus Lattimore
He's trying to, you know, create a sense of hypnosis and kind of activate consciousness. Allen Ginsberg, he's trying to, you know, activate. Activate people, you know, like. Like the element. I think I come from, like, the philosophy of play and, you know, being crazy with a cadence or, you know, like, being crazy with a vocal. You know, really nailing a certain point, like, in the poem, because it's all. It's just purpose. I'm trying to, you know, I want my work to be purposeful, you know, like, people, you know, I don't care, you know, like, what they think about what I'm doing. I'm just like, are you listening?
Joel Anderson
Yeah.
Marcus Lattimore
So, like, bell. You know, bell hooks, you know, like, just, you know. She's not a poet. Well, she's wrote a few children's books and poetry, but, like, I'm trying to If I can make her proud, then I can. I can. I can rest. I can. I can. I can die. Well, if I can make bell hooks proud, that's what's up, man.
Tate Frazier
Yo, Joe, any more questions?
Joel Anderson
Yeah, no, that was it. I mean, look, bro, this is what I'm talking about. And it's better than Tom Segura. You know what I'm saying?
Van Lathan
Yeah. I'm so glad we had positive energy, bro. I go out there and do something
Joel Anderson
I've been thinking about. I've been. We've been talking about this for a long time. Hadn't we, though? This is you, Marcus. You don't know. You were top of our list of guests that we wanted to get, so. And this is why.
Marcus Lattimore
So.
Joel Anderson
I thought it was beautiful. I'm so glad we got to meet you and hear you talk, bro. And, man, I got. I feel like I gotta get up to Portland and hear you get on. Get on the mic.
Marcus Lattimore
Oh, come on. Portland. Where is it?
Tate Frazier
Yeah, there you go. And, Marcus, before we let you go, can you promote. I know you're writing a book right now. I just want to make sure you can promote that for the people. I know it's not going to be out there for everybody, but, you know, go ahead and let people know where it's coming from.
Marcus Lattimore
Yeah, I gotta send. I gotta send the show a copy.
Joel Anderson
Oh, absolutely.
Marcus Lattimore
It's called. It's called Scribbles from a South Eastern Legend. And I. You know, I. That title came for. I was inducted into the Southeastern Conference legend class in 2023. And I've been trying to figure out, you know, like, what. Like, what can I do with that? And then, you know, I think this book is a way of me honoring my. Honoring my. My career. Honoring my athletic career, because I did kind of. I kind of ran. There's a part of me that tried to erase it for a little bit because of how it ended. But, like, in this book, like, I go into some of the joyous and joyous moments and also, like, Southeastern culture around football, you know, all the way up from, you know, high school to Saturday. I got a poem in there called Death Valley about van that kind of, you know, touches on that and that.
Joel Anderson
That
Marcus Lattimore
space, that atmosphere, being in Baton Rouge.
Van Lathan
You got any about tcu?
Joel Anderson
Hey, hey, hey.
Van Lathan
I bet you don't have one of my tcu. He didn't get to play tcu. Okay.
Joel Anderson
He didn't get to play tcu.
Van Lathan
I'm just saying
Joel Anderson
he could have been like, oh, as long as you.
Van Lathan
As Long as we can.
Joel Anderson
What happened? As long as we got to play at the piece.
Marcus Lattimore
Yo, I'm with. We got Kendall browns now, so, I mean, like, we about to run it up.
Van Lathan
Okay.
Joel Anderson
Hey, look, let me just go ahead and. I'm glad you said that, because I'm so glad y' all got Kendall brows. I'm glad the tcu. That's right. That we out of the kidney browns business. There you go. So good luck with that.
Tate Frazier
Oh, man, I love it. Marcus, again, thank you so much for coming on the show. You're welcome here anytime.
Joel Anderson
Seriously, brother, thank you so much.
Tate Frazier
Good luck with everything. And again, thanks so much for coming to the show. We really appreciate you, man.
Marcus Lattimore
I appreciate y', all, man, for real.
Van Lathan
All right, bro.
Marcus Lattimore
Take care, y'. All.
Tate Frazier
All right. Take care, man.
Joel Anderson
Let's take the. Hey, hey, look up, bro.
Van Lathan
God damn. Just looking at the front.
Joel Anderson
There you go.
Tate Frazier
All right, There you have it. Marcus Lattimore, man, that was, you know, I, I. I just. I was shocked at how great of an interview that was and how deep it was. I thought it would be, you know, more like, hey, remember this that you did at South Carolina? But deep. Existential. All the above. Great stuff from Marcus Lattimore. We appreciate him coming on the show. I know Van and Joel, you guys, we were all just kind of talking afterwards how great it was, so. Wanted to give him some love. Feel like he's a tailgater. He raised the roof with us.
Joel Anderson
He been. He threw himself into it. Yeah. Like, multiple times.
Van Lathan
He put a little sauce on it. You know, I just think it's really interesting to. I know we gotta go. To peer into the minds of these young brothers, to know that they see their life in 360 degrees and not just at one yard at a time, or in his case, probably like 8 yards at a time.
Joel Anderson
Yeah.
Van Lathan
But just to see the amount of mastery that he has over his story was phenomenal.
Tate Frazier
Yeah, that was great.
Joel Anderson
It makes you. It makes you feel real good because there's a. There is a lens through which you can view the Marcus Lamar Lattimore story as a tragedy. But. And. And that's what a lot of people think about him, you know, when they think that y' all laughing.
Tate Frazier
Just your pronunciation of names is, like, undefeated.
Joel Anderson
It was a lore.
Van Lathan
It was Marcus, Lamar, Mark.
Joel Anderson
I said Marcus Lattimore. I did say it. Come on, dog. Now I gotta rethink about that again. All right, now. All right. So the thing about Marcus Lattimore is that. Yeah, it's one way in which you might think of his story is like a tragedy. It's like, oh, man, it ended that day at that game in Tennessee with his leg, you know, all akimbo or whatever. And if anything, he talks about it like he feels free. Like he just seems he might have never become this man that he appears to be. And I hope I. You know, I hope he lives his raps. I hope he's, you know, is. Is wonderful a dude as he seems that he is. Because it just seems like, yeah, like he seems happy and he's curious and he's doing different shit, moving to Portland. And I. I love that for him, man. And so, yeah, I really hope people get something out of it that, you know, just because you have a major disappointment if things don't work out the way it is, it doesn't mean your story has to stop there. It could just be the start of a new chapter for you.
Tate Frazier
Yeah. Love that said, Joe. Yeah. Good job, Joe.
Van Lathan
Roof on that.
Tate Frazier
Yeah.
Joel Anderson
Yeah. All right. Yeah. Appreciate it. I've got it out. I got it out.
Tate Frazier
I love it. I love it. That was a great episode. Again, we do have a combine coming up in about four months.
Joel Anderson
Talk about some other man we got next week. Damn.
Van Lathan
Bill Bellamy.
Tate Frazier
Bill Bellamy. That's not even a joke. That's actually not a joke.
Joel Anderson
Yeah, Bill Bellamy's coming.
Van Lathan
Why, bruh?
Joel Anderson
Why is he coming? I just was realizing, how did Bill Bellamy just jump up? Because we brought up Tom Segura first. So I was like, how did Bill Bellamy.
Van Lathan
And we talked about Bill. Now we gotta talk about Bill Bellamy. Bill Bellamy, who played wide receiver in the movie Any Given Sunday. Bill Bellamy.
Tate Frazier
There you go.
Van Lathan
Football on TV and movies and stuff like that. We'll talk to him about that whole situation.
Marcus Lattimore
Absolutely.
Tate Frazier
It's going to be a great episode. We've got some great guests. Shout out to Allison for hooking us up. We appreciate everybody tuning in to Ringer Tailgate. Been a lot of fun. Thanks again to Marcus Lattimore and thanks to all the tailgaters out there for watching the show. And we will see you next week with another very special episode. We'll see you then. Must be 21 or older and president. Select states for Kansas and affiliation with Kansas Star Casino are 18 and older in President D.C. kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY RESET. Call 1-887-89-7-777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050. For 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE AND WHY? Or text Hopeny in New York. For Louisiana, call 1-877-770-7867. LifeLock how can I help? The IRS said I filed my return, but I haven't.
Van Lathan
One in four tax paying Americans has paid the price of identity fraud.
Joel Anderson
What do I do?
Tate Frazier
My refund though.
Van Lathan
I'm freaking out. Don't worry, I can fix fix this. LifeLock Fixes Identity Theft guaranteed and gets your money back with up to $3 million in coverage.
Tate Frazier
I'm so relieved. No problem. I'll be with you every step of the way.
Van Lathan
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Joel Anderson
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Van Lathan
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Episode Title: South Carolina Legend Marcus Lattimore Shares How Football Shaped His Life. Then, a Tailgate Race Sparks Combine Hype
Date: March 25, 2026
Hosts: Tate Frazier, Van Lathan, Joel Anderson
Special Guest: Marcus Lattimore
In this episode, the Ringer Tailgate crew is joined by Marcus Lattimore, the South Carolina football legend. The conversation delves deep into how football influenced Marcus’s life, the pressures of athletic fame, his journey through injury, and newfound passions post-football. Before and after the interview, Tate, Van, Joel, and friends engage in their signature mix of college football banter, personal athletic lore, and debate the possibilities of a "Tailgater Combine"—including a much-anticipated foot race. The discussion also touches on major developments in college basketball coaching and explores broader themes of identity, fulfillment, and growth after sports.
On joy and pressure:
“Safeguard the joy that you felt when you were eight years old playing the game…Protect that with all your heart.” — Marcus Lattimore (48:56)
On fame and discomfort:
“Number 21, loved it. But Marcus, like. Like me. Like, I. It was very uncomfortable.” — Marcus Lattimore (51:44)
On liberation through injury:
“Yes [my injury liberated me]…It got me off the treadmill.” — Marcus Lattimore (55:25)
On athletic privilege:
“I was given privileges that the average Black man would not be given…As my consciousness began to activate, I started to see that, oh, this is how everything works.” — Marcus Lattimore (73:47)
On the myth of fulfillment through money:
“I hope…they realize that isn’t the thing you were looking for. Maybe it’s a blessing you get it early so you realize that ain’t it.” — Marcus Lattimore (79:52)
On artistic influences:
“Nas is a mainstay…Oscar Brown Jr….Allen Ginsberg…bell hooks.” — Marcus Lattimore (91:07)
This episode presents everything that makes Ringer Tailgate unique: lively, relatable banter, smart analysis of college sports, and an uncommonly deep, human interview with a sports figure grappling with life after fame. Marcus Lattimore's honest reflection on the burdens of athletic glory, the liberation of letting go, and the courage to redefine oneself through art provides inspiration and resonance far beyond football. Whether you’re a college sports fan or just someone interested in stories of growth and reinvention, this conversation is essential listening.
Recommended Listening for: